Trip the Light Fantastic



"Trip the Light Fantastic" means to dance nimbly or lightly,
 or to move in a pattern to musical accompaniment.



I wish that I could say that I was "tripping the light fantastic" while working on the electrical plan for our house.  However, I did NOT "dance nimbly or lightly" through the process and the only musical accompaniment was the sound of cymbals crashing in my head from confusion...

This is Gary Norman, owner of Norman Electric, Inc.   Gary is a patient man.  A few weeks ago we met at the house for a walk-thru to discuss the electrical layout of the house.  This involves going from room to room noting the type of light fixtures, ceiling fans, location of switches and outlets, etc.  Gary said it usually takes about 1-11/2 hours. 

It took 3 hours.

I was not prepared to shoulder so much responsibility!  You know those houses that have light switches everywhere that seem to make no sense?  The places that you think to yourself "what the heck were they thinking?"  Well...I was now the person making the decisions that will last for the life of the house, for better or worse. 

Whenever Gary asked whether I wanted to be able to turn on a light from two or more different switch locations, I would stare at him like a deer in headlights.  My mind was racing.  Did I want that?  Or would it add unnecessary confusion?  Lightswitch confusion...we've all experienced it...best avoided if possible, right? Sigh.  Room after room-- canned lights or fixture?  Ceiling fan in this room?  Outlet in this corner?  Switch on the inside or outside of the wall?  My mind was muddled.

Now I'm not usually an indecisive person but after about the 2 hour mark, I cracked.  I answered every question with the question "what would you recommend, Gary?"  I hit the default button.  I couldn't make another decision.  

Gary, being the kind and patient person that he is, gave me an out.  He informed me that once he had the boxes installed, I could walk the house again and make any changes.  Changes were easy to do, he said, until the drywall goes up.

So, that's what I'm doing now.  Spending time walking through the house, pretending it's the middle of the night and I need to turn on a light (during which I would be thinking "it would be fantastic if I could trip the light.")   Where would be the most natural place for the switch?  Does there need to be another switch for the same light somewhere else in the house?  Where should that be?  I'm trying to get it right.  But if you come to my house sometime in the future and can't seem to make sense of the multitude of switches and buttons scattered all over, you'll know who to blame.   Dave.



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The windows are in!  The roof is on!  HVAC and plumbing rough-in is complete! And we are in the process of rockin' down to...."Electric Avenue".  Coming up next....drywall!